Ducey's call for refugee ban troubling, some say

For Syrians already living in Tucson, Gov. Doug Ducey’s request to stop resettling any refugees in Arizona is sad but not completely unexpected, say those who work with refugees.

Rania Kanawati moved to the United States from Syria 23 years ago. When Syrian refugees began arriving in Tucson earlier this year, she began reaching out to them.

“We speak the same language. We have the same traditions,” said Kanawati, who is a board member at the Islamic Center of Tucson.

For families already settled here, she said, the waves of distrust now directed at refugees have them fearing that family members still in refugee camps won’t be able to come to the United States.

“People are working in camps to go somewhere and start a new life,” Kanawati said. “And then they hear they are going to close the door on them.”

Arizona is one of the top 10 refugee resettlement states in the country, but Syrians make up a very small share of the total. During the last fiscal year, Arizona admitted nearly 4,000 refugees, about 6 percent of the 70,000 the United States resettled that year, but only 138 were from Syria.

On Monday, Gov. Doug Ducey joined other governors and federal lawmakers seeking to restrict the resettlement of refugees after a series of terrorists attacks in Paris left 129 people dead and hundreds more wounded.

While Ducey called for a halt of the resettlement of all refugees, others said only Christians should be admitted.

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It is up to the federal government to assure state and local officials that there is an effective process in place to vet Syrian refugees and protect the country’s national security, Arizona Sen. John McCain said in a written statement.

“The United States should accept Syrian refugees if and only if they are able to pass a rigorous, comprehensive vetting process conducted by our law enforcement and security professionals at the FBI, our intelligence agencies, the Department of Homeland Security and other key agencies of government,” he said, under a process that includes biometric and biographical screening and that prioritizes the most vulnerable.

“Until that process is complete, Syrian refugees should not be brought to U.S. soil. As our experience with Afghan and Iraqi refugees has shown, this process may take an extended period of time.

“But we must allow all the time that vigilance requires,” he added.

Once the United Nations and U.S. embassies refer refugee cases for resettlement consideration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers conduct individual interviews and clearances, and final determinations for admission. The vetting process takes on average of between 18 and 24 months.

The U.S. resettlement program interviews and vets refugees while they are still overseas, said Craig Thoresen, the executive director of Phoenix-based agency Refugee Focus, which also has an office in Tucson.

“I can guarantee with Iraqi and Syrian refugees, they are given double security measures, as they should,” he said, adding there are easier ways for a terrorist to enter the country than the refugee application process. “We all want to be safe and secure.”

Thoresen also dismissed suggestions to admit only Christian refugees, noting that the definition of a refugee is anyone fleeing with “an established and well-founded fear of persecution.”